You might think you know where the dangers of perfectionism lead, but then again, unless you've met me you probably don't have a clue how dangerous perfectionism can be. Perfectionists tend to have high expectations of everything and everyone that comes into a perfectionist view, and the dangers are more than a few.

1. Exhaustion:

From birth and into my teens, my parents expected the best of me, so I strived to be pleasing. Still, no matter how hard I tried to be perfect all the time, now and then I'd do what kids do and through my parent's disappointment in me, I vowed to become a perfect human being. It wasn't their faulty, you see, it was simply my need to please that blinded me from the reality that my parents loved me unconditionally.

By the age of eighteen, I became a perfectionist and needed everyone and every thing, including myself, to be perfect to the 100th degree and 100 percent of the time. Not only did I need to please the people in my life perfectly, but they had to please me too, through my high expectations of who I believed they should be, and especially with me. The boyfriend who became my husband was supposed to be Prince Charming so that I could be a princess who lived in the house of my perfect dreams. My children had to be perfectly neat and clean constantly, even at the expense of their perfect childhood that I would perfectly provide for them.

I achieved a college degree and graduated Cum Laude, but believed I didn't achieve a thing since I failed to graduate Magna Cum Laude. Still, I never gave up on my quest for perfection, and when I became a teacher, I made up my mind I'd be the perfect special education teacher that ever was, and when the reality hit me that kids with special needs don't exactly see eye to eye with me on what perfect means, I had to face that I'd never be a perfect teacher either. Every expectation I had in my mind let me down all the time and even with the little things in life.

My high expectations told me that Christmas day was supposed to be a perfect holiday, and if my view of the tree didn't match perfectly with my perfect holiday dream, it would ruin my day and leave me ashamed. I'd imagine what my husband would buy and why he'd find the perfect gift to give his perfect wife, but he never seemed to see the gifts he gave me through my eyes, so I'd end up being disappointed all the time. By the way, he played golf all day, every day and left me alone

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